Students Stories

• I filed bankruptcy in 2013 due to the dissolution of my marriage, but was unable to list my $80,000+ in student loan debt. Since my divorce, I'm very low income with two children and unable to pay anything on my loans. I'm in my late 40s and feel like I will be paying until I die. The icing on the cake...I still don't have a degree.
• Depending where I look, I owe widely different amounts as of today, September 2016. On the NSLDS.ed.gov site it says I owe $37,983 principle + $5,518 interest = $43,501. According to the U.S. Department of Education Debt Management and Collections, my loans defaulted to them in November of 2013, at $42,341. Since that time, my wages have been garnished, but my balance has increased by $11,718. I now owe $54,059, AFTER payments of $9,810. It's like a movie about Mafia loan sharks! But this is all government sanctioned. And the public doesn't understand why we feel overwhelmed!?
• Like all of us, my generation says "school is the way out." FALSE FALSE FALSE! I don't have family or much friends. I support myself. Went to community college for years while homeless and starving at one point, hoping education would give me a brighter future and boy was I horribly wrong. I have a private loan with a cosigner. I was forced to drop out because I was neglected to be told that I needed a 2nd cosigner mid way through school. Been overpaying on my loan for a year and LITERALLY it has stayed the same. I am 26k in debt. This world is so backwards, it blows my mind as to how much money has captured a disgusting grip on people and the government is downright IGNORANT to this fast paced life they've forced us into. We are set up to fail unless you come from an insanely rich family. Yay to not eating !!
  
• I went to school and never finished the degree due to I found out in the middle of semester that the school was not accredited at the moment. Years later I went back and I couldn't transfer the credits because the old school said I owed them money. I had to start from scratch, I finished my undergrad degree, I make less than 40k a year and I have student load debt of approximate $130k. I still live with my parents, I cant save money, I do not leave a luxury life, I live check by check and making payments on student loans under forbearance program on which is not going to principal. It's frustrating .
  
• Hello to whom ever is reading this. I graduated in 2009 when the American economy was experiencing a recession. While thousands of families were losing there homes because of mortgage fraud and faulty loans issued by the banks I had accumulated debt of approximately 27,000.
  My years in academia as a college student were memorable and pleasant. Upon graduating I didn't have a job lined up and can remember receiving my first payment request within 1 week of graduation. Students should be given a grace period to begin paying back there loans because they need time to readjust and celebrate there accomplishments, or to just find a job. This forces students to take deferments and forbearances that add more interest in order to leech out as much profit through accrued interest. College graduates are real people with defined skills. Skills that are being ignored by financial institutions and the government at large.
  Within one month of graduating I found a job in sales with a home security system company. I found that my background and academic career prepared me adequately. The job was commission based and allowed me to experience being an entrepreneur. At the same time not one, but various loan payments were pouring in that I had no choice to consider consolidating because of the difficulty in keeping track of lenders and scheduling payments. Furthermore, after making payments very little is subtracted from the total amount which makes borrowers realize they aren't getting anywhere. If you had to choose between keeping your hard earned money through hours of work to make purchases on essentials for operating your business you would use the money to investment. For other borrowers, I imagine that having to choose between going out on a date or drink after work or to pay back what feels like being in a never ending cycle of fruitless payments can also be difficult decision to make on top of other essentials such as rent, insurance, utility bills, medical and dental health that are critical and essential to a persons well being.
  If I had choose to consolidate my loan I would have added an additional 10,000 USD so I had to think about making that decision and ultimately didn't consolidate. At the same time, my business had taken a dip and I was suddenly faced with a dilemma. Do I keep the money I have or make a student loan payment? Should I consolidate and add additional years to endure this type of living?
  Why, if a person chooses to consolidate there loans should thousands of dollars be added to the amount? Did I receive a degree or masters that I'm unaware of? Clearly, receiving an education and helping to mold an additional member of society is no longer a bargaining chip when I signed a loan promissory note. Student loans should be consolidated in the first place. A person when buying a home or car doesn't take a loan each year. Why not create a system that is manageable? The current system is a designed to be confusing, unsupportive, and a waste of time or years of a persons life.
  I am currently living in South Korea, my loans have defaulted and I stopped making payments years ago. Upon returning to America last year to see family I was solicited by a company and nearly convinced of paying a fee to rehabilitate the loans. I have since rehabilitated the loans that accrued interest to a whopping 57,000 USD. Had my loan been 1 loan and I been allowed to make payments that still allowed me to live a productive and happy life I wouldn't have had an issue paying it back. But because lenders were trying to take advantage of the situation I have simply ignored to pay the loan and enjoyed my life anyway.
  Here in South Korea, I have medical and health insurance, live comfortably and have used my education to positively effect the society here. It's unfortunate that in my own country I was not able to do so. I have recently been given a grant by the government to create an education software program using the money I earned and reinvested while working here. What is truly saddening is that other skilled college graduates will be confined by there debt rather than allowed to use the best of there youth to create opportunities for themselves and society.
  The student debt crisis is watering down America and needs serious reformation. I want to pay back my loan, the original amount without compromising my lively hood and well being in the process so, that I can use my creativity and skills to positively benefit the world. If you're reading this, please understand that individuals choosing to educate themselves should be seen as a resource to the economy to drive growth, not leveraged for profiteering by lenders that negatively impacts the years of education obtained.